The Dance
by iloveromance
Summary: When Flynn is unexpectedly invited to a school dance by a girl in his class, he is over the moon with happiness. But unexpected news may put a damper on his much-anticipated evening. Written for melinda08 and Jessie33 with many thanks for their support and friendship. Based on a subplot from another "Breaking Bad" story by melinda08 entitled "The Widow".
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This was inspired by melinda08's wonderful story "The Widow" and focuses on a 'sub-plot' within it. In order to make "The Dance" as complete as possible, I have shamelessly "borrowed" quite a bit of material from "The Widow" but I hope that will be overlooked! =) This is my first attempt in writing a "Breaking Bad" story and as always, all feedback is appreciated! Thanks for reading!**_

Returning the phone to its base, Flynn White could hardly believe it. He shut his eyes and then opened them again, just to make certain that he wasn't dreaming. But he was still here in his room, which is where he'd been since he'd gotten the phone call from Lindsay. And still, it didn't seem real. A girl, a real, honest to goodness girl had a crush on him!

Never in his existence did he think that anyone would ever like him and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. He was used to kids making fun of him. It was inevitable for kids like him with disabilities to

be the constant subject of mockery. And once kids noticed that he wasn't like everyone else, required to use braces in order to walk, well… things became ugly really fast.

Some people were even stupid enough to mock him in front of his parents; especially his dad. The last time someone tried to ridicule him in front of Walter White was definitely the _last time_. Flynn was surprised that the kids could even walk out of the store in one piece, let alone crawl.

The thought made him smile but only for a moment. He knew without a doubt that his father would no longer protect him, and frankly he didn't want protecting. In his mind, Walter White Jr. was history and it was time to live his own life. Walter would have done anything for his son, but that was before….

The thought made him smile, but only for a moment. He knew hat is father would no longer protect him, nor did he want anything to do with the man for whom he'd been named. Never again would he be known as Walter Jr. As soon as he turned eighteen, he was going to change his name legally and if his parents objected then that was just too bad.

Although he was grateful to his parents for protecting him, he refused to be treated like a child. Just because he had a disability didn't mean that he was any less of a person. No one seemed to understand that except for Lindsay.

Suddenly all of his anger toward his pathetic excuse for a father was replaced by utter disbelief. Lindsay, the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, had asked him to the dance! A _real_ date, not one of those imagined ones.

Too many times he'd gotten phone calls from one of the popular girls who caught him at his most vulnerable. It was then that he did things that he wouldn't ordinarily do; such as obediently wait in the parking lot after school for a meeting with a cheerleader who had told him how sweet and handsome he was.

He'd done this very thing, waiting for hours (and risking punishment from his parents for not being there when his mom went to pick him up from school) for Missy Sherwood to meet him in the parking lot. He'd barely slept the night before, planning what he was going to say, and what he would wear in the hopes of impressing her. It seemed too good to be true. And sadly, it was.

When night fell, he managed to get himself home by calling his Uncle Hank and swearing him to secrecy. If he hadn't insisted that Uncle Hank not mention his humiliation to his parents or to his Aunt Marie, he was certain that Missy Sherwood wouldn't have been able to fulfill her duties as head cheerleader for reasons both physical and psychological. Even now he shuddered, thinking of the things that his parents and Uncle Hank could have done to that girl. But far worse was the reality that followed; the snickering and scorn of his peers when they learned of what he had done.

Apparently plenty of people had seen him waiting in the parking lot for a visitor who would never come. And it made him wish things like Smartphones, and webcams had never been invented.

He'd heard his mom and Aunt Marie complain about how tough things were when they were in high school, but he didn't see how. Back then hardly anyone knew what the Internet was. The idea of a world without access to the Internet was unfathomable to him. How in the world did people function?

Right now, a world without the Internet seemed awfully inviting. It made it that much harder for people to find out what others were up to, and a lot easier to hurt them. But he was certain that he didn't have to worry about any of that with Lindsay. She liked _him_ for him and not because he was an easy target.

Lindsay actually liked him! With a huge smile on his face, he grabbed his crutches and moved as fast as he could down the hallway en route to the living room. He could hardly wait to tell his mom his wonderful news.


	2. Chapter 2

The moment he entered the living room he saw his mother's blonde hair. Her back was toward him and he increased his pace.

"Mom, you'll never guess..."

She turned around, revealing the phone in her hand. "Just a minute. I'm on hold with your Aunt Marie."

Disappointed, he sighed. "Oh… I'm sorry."

"It's all right." She replied. "Would you mind checking on your sister for me?"

"Sure, Mom."

With a sense of purpose he headed for Holly's room, anxious to tell anyone, even his baby sister about the incredible thing that had just happened to him.

When he reached the nursery he could see her playing with the mobile that hung above her crib. How anyone could find plastic versions of Snoopy and Woodstock hanging from strings fascinating was beyond him. But like Holly, he was a baby once and maybe he had been fascinated by the same thing.

She was barely aware of his presence until he walked up and leaned into her crib.

"Hey Holly. I know you're not going to understand a word of what I'm saying but try, okay? Trust me if you don't understand now, you will when you're older and I hope that you'll tell me about it when it does. Wanna know what it is?"

To his delight, Holly smiled and giggled, kicking her pajama footed feet. Dare he hope that she understood how happy he was? Once again, Flynn found that he couldn't stop smiling.

"Okay, I'll tell ya. I have a date! Can you believe it? Oh… You probably don't know what a date is, do you? Of course you don't. It means that I get to go to a dance with Lindsay! You've never met her but she's really cool! She's in my math class and she actually likes me! She called me and asked me to go with her!"

When Holly began to fuss, he felt strangely disappointed that she wasn't sharing in his joy. And then he was brought back to reality by the sight of the bottle lying next to her in the crib. He picked it up and put the nipple into her mouth. "Here you go, Holly."

Immediately she began to drink and he smiled watching her softly hold the bottle all by herself.

He couldn't tell if his baby sister was happy for him or not, but he liked to think that she was. And so he walked out of the room, hopeful that his mom was off the phone with Aunt Marie. He knew that once he got her to understand how much this meant to him, that she would be happy for him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mom!" Flynn yelled enthusiastically when he entered the living room. "You'll never guess what happened to me today!"

"What's that, honey?" She asked. But she didn't sound the least bit excited to hear what he had to say. She was probably still upset about everything that had happened involving his dad. And he couldn't blame her, he supposed. But once she heard what had happened to him, she was bound to forget all of that.

"You know that girl Lindsay who called? Well, there's a dance at school on Friday and she asked me to go with her! I have a date, Mom! Can I go, please? I promise I'll be careful! I've never been to a dance before and I've never been on a date! Please, Mom! I'll do anything you want, even do the dishes for a month if you'll just let me go!"

To his dismay, his mom grabbed a pillow and held it in her hands. And he knew instantly what it meant. It was time for a family meeting and he knew from experience that they only had family meeting when there was bad news. The last one was led by his father, informing them that he had cancer and that he was refusing to partake in chemotherapy.

Flynn didn't want to hear any more bad news right now, and he wanted to protest, choosing instead to talk about his great news. But he was in too good of a mood to argue with his mother.

"Flynn, honey… there's… something I need to tell you." She said.

"Mom, did you hear me? I have a_ date_!" he said excitedly, forgetting all about the prospect of learning bad news.

"I know that, honey but please, hear me out." She said. "I don't know how to begin."

The bad news was coming, he knew it. But he wasn't about to let it ruin his good mood, no matter what it was. Most likely it was something about his father and he sure as heck didn't care about him. Not anymore, anyway.

"What is it, Mom?"

"Flynn, your father was back in town."

"Dad? Um, you mean Walter?" He cringed at the thought of addressing that monster as "Dad" but he supposed that old habits die hard.

"Mom, did you call the police? I hope he gets what he deserves and that he never hurts you or me or Aunt Marie ever again! Did you call the police because if you don't, _I will_!" He moved slowly but steadfast toward the phone and picked it up, his fingers poised over the keypad.

"Flynn, listen to me, _please_!" his mom was saying as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "God, I hate him for making me do this!"

"Do _what_, Mom? Just forget about him! I'm trying to ask you something important! I need to know if I can go to the dance with Lindsay!"

"Flynn, your father is dead!"


	4. Chapter 4

Almost instantly his mom's hand flew to her trembling mouth and he froze in place. For this was the last thing he ever expected to hear. The room was eerily silent as they stared at one another and after what seemed like an eternity, the silence was broken.

"Flynn, did you hear what I said?"

"Can I go to the dance?" was his only reply.

Her face turned ashen and she stared at him in disbelief. "Flynn.."

"I _heard you_! He's _dead_!" he yelled. Angrily he picked up the pillow and hurled it across the room.

He saw his mother swallow hard. "And?"

"What do you want me to say? That I'm sad, that he's gone? That I miss him? That he was my hero? Well it's not true! He was a monster! He killed Uncle Hank and took Holly from us! And if you want to cry and mope about him being gone go head, but I can't! I have to go!"

"Flynn, wait! Talk to me, _please_! Look, I know your father has done some terrible things, but you must be feeling something right now; sad, confused, mad-."

"_Terrible_? _Terrible_?" He yelled. "Terrible doesn't even begin to describe him! If he hadn't been such a jackass, Uncle Hank would be here now and not in the ground in a cemetery while Aunt Marie cries all the time!"

"Flynn, let me help you! I know this is hard and I know you're sad but-."

"Why should I be sad? The man who killed my Uncle Hank is dead and he can't take Holly from us anymore! And you can't tell me what to feel!"

"I'm your mother and I know what's best for you!"

"How can you know what's best for me? Do you expect me to just forget what that monster did? Well you can forget about it because it's never going to happen!"

"Flynn-."

She was sobbing now and he knew that he should comfort her but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had to leave; had to be alone.

"Look, go ahead and cry for him all you want. I don't care! I'm going to that dance and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

As he struggled with his crutches to walk out of the door, he could hear his mom crying even harder behind him. And when he reached his room, he made certain to slam the door, rattling the walls in the process.

No one understood what he was going thorough and he had no one to be happy for him. Uncle Hank would be happy for him but the man he had looked up to was gone now, killed by the hands of a monster, and ironically known as his father.

He wouldn't trade his mother for anything in the world, but why couldn't Uncle Hank have been his dad? He'd give anything for that to be true. And if it was, he could truly grieve for the father he had lost so suddenly. But now he just didn't give a damn.


End file.
